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Committee considers H.861 to create a statewide ADA coordinator
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Summary
H.861 would create an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator in state government to centralize ADA compliance, provide training and audits, and assist municipalities; advocates testified on access gaps while counsel explained hiring and funding questions remain.
On April 14 the Senate Committee on Government Operations considered H.861, a bill that would create a statewide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator within the Agency of Administration to coordinate ADA compliance across state government and support municipalities.
Representative Elizabeth Burrows introduced the policy case for a coordinator, citing demographic figures and uneven accessibility capacity across agencies. "More than 1 in 4 Vermonters live with at least one disability," she told the committee, and she argued a central coordinator would reduce duplicate spending, improve training, and help municipalities access federal grant funding for accessibility upgrades.
Katie McLeod of the Office of Legislative Counsel walked the committee through the draft statutory language. The coordinator position would require knowledge of the ADA and related federal law, familiarity with state agency structures, and would give primary consideration to a candidate with lived experience of disability and an ADA certificate. The bill as drafted would limit candidate consideration to nominees from four specified advocacy organizations and currently contains no dedicated appropriation; the House Appropriations Committee had removed earlier funding and the draft contemplates a $150 appropriation contingent on further action.
Committee members asked whether the administration supports the role, how the nomination process interacts with standard hiring rules, and whether lived experience should be a requirement or a preference. Counsel and sponsors acknowledged the hiring mechanism is atypical and recommended further consultation with the Agency of Administration and legal staff on the appointment language and salary placement.
The committee recessed for a scheduled break and requested additional information about fiscal impact and administration support before advancing H.861.
